Electronic Arts has confirmed that Criterion co-founders Alex Ward and Fiona Sperry has departed the studio. Going forward long time Criterion team member Matt Webster will take the helm. Webster will be leading the development of the new project that Criterion is working on.

The new Criterion project that Webster is leading is the same project that has been spoke about after the changes at Criterion that saw the studio slimmed down to a focused team of 15 people or so as the rest of the staff moved over to Ghost Games which is the new EA studio that is handling the Need for Speed franchise.

As to why Ward and Sperry elected to depart for this new venture is somewhat a mystery beyond the Tweets indicating the new studio and project that they are working on. Ward will also be splitting at least some time from the new project to writing a monthly column for Develop Magazine. It is not clear from what we have been able to ferret out if anything else contributed to the decision to leave or not.

Word from Creative Director Alex Ward, is that Criterion has been reduced to just 16 people. The rest of the Criterion staff (estimated to be between 60 to 65) have been moved to work under the umbrella of Ghost Games. Ward announced the move in a series of Tweets.

Ghost Games UK, will be at the helm of the Need for Speed series, which is what Criterion has been managing since it took over when it developed Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. Ghost Games will be directing the development of all of the Need for Speed IP going forward.

As for the 16 left at Criterion, it is believed that the studio is now referred to as Criterion Zero and they are working on a secret project. (Rumors suggest that this secret project is believed to be a new Burnout title, but so far this remains unconfirmed.)

The development is surprising, but we have to hope that at least for the moment that Criterion isn’t dead yet, but the best news is the majority of them are staffing Ghost Games so the racing games from them will continue.

Criterion confirms that they will do another Burnout title at some point in the future, but it could be that the next title they tackle may be a Road Rash revival title. Creative Director Craig Sullivan says that they have a lot they want to do with driving titles.

Because of the motorbike DLC that Criterion released for Burnout Paradise, it seems that everyone thinks they will be doing a Road Rash title at some future time. Right now, the studio is focused on the Need for Speed franchise, with the Most Wanted next up for release later this month.

Sources suggest that Criterion will be doing something other than a Need for Speed title next, as it is expected that EA’s new Gothenburg studio will develop the next Need for Speed title, with Alex Ward from Criterion lending a hand.

Former Codemasters creative Director of Bodycount as well as the designer of Criterion’s Black has apparently bailed on City Interactive where he had been working on Enemy Front. It seems that this scenario is becoming pretty familiar for Stuart Black these days; he works for a studio and helps them with a new shooter franchise, and before it is finished he leaves to jump to another studio to work on another new shooter franchise.

While we don’t know all of the details, sources suggest that the events are very similar: Black’s vision of the game and the studio’s vision of the game are different, which results in Black’s departure. This time around, sources say City Interactive wanted to change directions with Enemy front after feedback from recent shows and press showing, and apparently Black wasn’t comfortable with those changes.

Mark Bristol in the U.S. is working with City Interactive now, but it isn’t clear if that is to fill Black’s former role or not. As for Black, his LinkedIn profile indicates that he is now an Indie developer. No word yet on what Black may be working on or for what platform.

In an interesting turn of events, it would appear that Need for Speed: Most Wanted, due to be released soon from Electronic Arts and developer Criterion, will apparently offer more than just Kinect support.

The latest box art that we are seeing for the PlayStation 3 version of the game indicates that it also offers Move support. The box art indicates that it is “PlayStation Move Compatible,” which seems to indicate that it has been included.

While the Kinect support was indicated in the first wave of box art for the game, we were unable to see indications of support for PlayStation Move. So far, Electronic Arts and Criterion have remained quiet on what support might be included beyond the typical use of the controller. We suspect that we will hear something more official when we get a little closer to release.

Burnout Paradise fans that were hoping that developer Criterion would finally announce a sequel to the highly popular open word racer were surprised again by no announcement of a sequel. Instead, Criterion in conjunction with EA announced Need For Speed Most Wanted.

It would appear, however, that Need for Speed Most Wanted is the spiritual successor to Burnout Paradise. While some might think that it is nothing more than Burnout Paradise with the Cops & Robbers add-on, apparently it is much more. Game footage shown at EA’s press conference seems to back up the fact that the stuff that made Burnout Paradise great is also a part of the new Need for Speed Most Wanted.

Criterion claims that they learned a lot from Burnout Paradise, and Need for Speed Most Wanted reflects what the developers learned from Burnout Paradise; and it is the best of everything all rolled into one game. Criterion claims that the game is a reflection of the studio and developers at this point in time and they have been influenced by a variety of things, including what the studio has produced in the past.

Reaction to the demo and trailers for Need for Speed Most Wanted has been pretty positive, with many indicating that it could be the best Need for Speed title yet. We will have to see when it finally arrives in North America on October 30th and in Europe on November 2nd. The title has been confirmed for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and surprisingly, also for the PlayStation Vita.

Burnout fans are loyal and very opinionated, from what we have seen. Some Burnout fans have already expressed reservations at the news that the Xbox 360 version of the game will be the first Burnout game that will offer Kinect support.

By holding your hands in the 12 and 2 position, it is similar to Joy Ride; this game, however, has been panned for its lack of more precise controls. With Kinect we still expect many Burnout veterans to pass on the title, as they likely don’t even own a Kinect.

The good news is that the game will still support the controller; so, if Kinect isn’t your bag, then you can use the controller with the game. It is expected that Microsoft will continue to push developers to make Kinect an optional control method for many upcoming titles.

The latest from Criterion known now as Burnout Crash apparently has quite an interesting history. The title actually was originally targeted for a Wii that users would create all by themselves. After a lot of testing, however, Criterion apparently put it on the shelf. While the game had some good things, it just was not coming together and, in fact, it was quite boring.

Criterion elected to start over again and this time uses the Microsoft XNA studio to design the game. From what we hear, the entire core of the game was built in just about four weeks using XNA. During the process a number of ideas were trashed to get to where they are now with Burnout Crash.

Burnout Crash is still on track for a fall release on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, but an official release date has yet to be confirmed. You can learn more about the development of Burnout Crash in an interview with Giant Bomb here.

Sources are confirming to use that the new Criterion entry in the Burnout series said to be called Burnout Crash is confirmed, but still unannounced by EA at this time.

The game is said to be an action driving arcade game that is set inside the fictional world of Crash City. Whispers from those claiming to be in the know tell us that it is kind of like a game revolving around the “Showtime” mode that was so popular in Burnout Paradise. (The object of the Showtime mode was to cause as much damage as possible to traffic and the surroundings by crashing your car.)

The title was outed by the Australian ratings board, which evidently gave it a “PG” rating for “Mild Violence” with “Parental Guidance Suggested.” We have to think that with the confirmation from the Australian ratings board, combined with what our sources have whispered in our ear, that the title is confirmed for release later this year.

With Criterion having already released the new Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, everyone seems to be wondering what the studio is working on next. The mystery might be a little less cloudy, as it is suspected that Criterion is working on a Burnout sequel said to be titled Burnout Crash.

While neither Electronic Arts nor Criterion have confirmed that this is the case, it would seem that the Australian Classification Board has rated a title with this name. In reaching out to our sources, the only thing that we have uncovered is that there is an unannounced project that is in development at Criterion that is said to be a multi-platform title for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. It is expected that it uses Criterion’s racing engine technology, which is not a surprise.

Criterion head Alex Ward did tweet that he was showing off the developer’s next title. If a new chapter in the Burnout franchise is what Criterion will be releasing next, it would be the first release of a Burnout title since 2008. The company did officially announce last year that they had completed all of the DLC content that they would be releasing for Burnout Paradise with the release of Big Surf Island, and no additional development on the title or DLC would be taking place.

It does all seem to fit together quite well, and it does seem to make sense that Criterion would want to follow up the success that they experienced with the release of Burnout Paradise. It is expected that one thing that we should look for to confirm that Criterion is to release a new Burnout title is a steady and continuous stream of downloadable content to be released right after the title ships.

The fact that the Australian Classification Board has already rated Burnout Crash does suggest that the title is poised for a release yet this year. Our sources tell us that if this is the case we can look for Electronic Arts to be showing it off at E3 in June, at which time an official release date is expected to be confirmed.